Photography School in Manila for Beginners

I was around seven when I received a yellow Snoopy camera for my birthday and it was one of the happiest days of my life because I believed I was good at photographing. My childhood notion came with undeniable proof - in my mind, I was the designated one during family events and I held my dad's camera the most. Then as I grew up, the bubble burst. I was at a loss when J gave me my GF1 and I would cringe at the mention of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, metering and many other foreign words. An opportunity came along for a short course on Basic Photography with Cosmopoint International Institute of Technology (CIIT) in Quezon City. I knew that if I learn a thing or two and practice A LOT, I could actually produce pictures that tell stories.

I was back in school after four years. This time around, I am hoping to use what I've learned. Photography, as our teacher on that day Mr. Robert Fontanilla told us, is writing with light (photoshop not included). Without light, there is no photo. 

We talked about DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras and that my Panasonic Lumix GF1 is not and it's okay. We also talked about the things people use in photography such as the camera itself, memory cards, flashes, lens, batteries, chargers, tripods, card readers, computers and camera bags. Some tips included turning off the camera when changing the lens and memory card, securing a backup for files in memory cards because they can easily be corrupted when you drop them and not to be trigger-happy because there's such a thing as shutter life in every camera.

The most interesting part was dissecting my GF1 for the first time. It was very nice to finally about the P, the A, the S and the M buttons in the dial (I fell asleep when I read the manual for the first time and haven't tried reading it again). My GF1 is so high-tech, it doesn't even have a viewfinder haha.

Metering, exposure, white balance, ISO, compression were also some of the things discussed in class. I also found out what the camera histogram was for. J has been telling me about HDR bracketing (shooting with different exposures) and that my GF1 has this button to shoot 3 different exposures. When it was discussed, I actually became a little interested. Haha.

This was a 2-day CIIT photography workshop so I was like a sponge taking in everything (so much more than the topics I've listed above). I was looking forward to the shoot but then it rained super hard. I think the class was worth it and it was a great eye opener for me. I don't want to use the Automatic function of my camera all the time. It's been more than a year since I had that GF1 and it's growing on me. This post is a reminder for me to head out there and go put the things I've learned to good use, maybe go out once in a while, take my time, have patience and shoot something. I'd like to think I'm a work in progress so here's the latest picture I took of a grape-like flower in Kyoto =)

Basic classes on Photography like this in an environment like CIIT keeps my interest going because it's a classroom setup. I miss taking notes and school... Haha. What's good about this school? I don't know any other school besides CIIT that offers 3D Animation, Game Development, Web Design and Multimedia in Manila. They see through the hearts of the young who want to learn cool stuff and offer courses that are not along the lines of Business, Economics and Finance.

School Details:

Cosmopoint International Institute of Technology (CIIT Philippines)

5th Floor CTTM Square

68 Timog Avenue corner

Tomas Morato, Quezon City

411-1196 / 441-0737

info@ciit-ph.com

CIIT Philippines Website